


"You cannot date me."

by merlin91



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff, Girl!Merlin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-21 00:28:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1531259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlin91/pseuds/merlin91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is tired of being the most popular boy in his school, and getting any girl he wants, anytime. <br/>He wants a challenge, a real challenge now.<br/>Enter Merlin. But, she has a condition for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Arthur sighed and slid down into the seat next to Gwaine in the canteen. He moaned theatrically and plopped his head down on his folded arms on the table. 

Munching some crackers loudly, Gwaine reached over and poked him in the side. “What’s crawled up your arse and died?”

Lifting his head up a fraction Arthur wailed, “There are no girls left for me!” Percival looked up from his lunch across the table and grinned at that. Gwen stopped making cow eyes at Lancelot and turned to Arthur, still keeping her foot entangled with Lance’s under the table. “Now that’s stupid. There are plenty of girls here who you can date!”

“Yes, that there are. But I want someone who doesn’t swoon at the first smile from me, or doesn’t allow me to get into her pants after the first fricking date! I need a real challenge man… the girls here are all too easy. Maybe I should, like change school or something,” Arthur said morosely.

Everyone laughed at the pitiful look Arthur sported. Just then was a small commotion form the far end of the canteen. Gwaine turned to look and saw a girl being forced to give up her seat, and go someplace else. The girl stood in the middle of the canteen, looking lost, when she finally just dumped her tray and turned to go. “Hmm. I think there is a girl you can try to win over,” he said to Arthur. 

“Who?” Arthur asked snidely. “Janice? No. She groped me even before I asked her out. Samantha? She's was the one who poured her soda on me so that she could take me to her home, and 'clean' me up. Ugh! It is really tough being popular these days!”

“No, no. Not Janice or good ol' Sammy. _Her_ ,” he tilted his head at the girl who was just then passing them by.

Everyone turned to look at her, and then turned to Gwaine incredulously. Arthur had an _areyoukiddingme!_ expression on his face. “Seriously? _Moody Merlin??_ ” Leon said, laughter evident in his voice.

“Hey, he said he wanted a challenge. That is a challenge. That girl never talks to anybody, and I don’t think she will be at all interested in what heroics Arthur manages to do on the field as I have never seen her at any of the games till now. She has no tendency to swoon at guys- well granted I haven’t ever seen any guy ask her out, but still. She would be a challenge.”

“Seriously? Merlin? With her huge glasses that cloud over half her spotty face? Her incredibly dull and practically rag-like clothes? Her unwashed hair? That Merlin?” Arthur asked, aghast.

“Hey, that girl doesn’t have unwashed hair!” Gwen defended her. “She just, just doesn’t have naturally good hair. They look like a rat’s nest I know that, but that doesn’t mean they are unwashed. And really Arthur? Rag-like clothes?”

“Well yeah! Have you ever seen her in a decent dress?” Arthur asked.

Gwen just hmphed, and said tartly, "I thought you wanted a challenge?”

Arthur slowly sat back in his seat. Being seen with the most unpopular girl in the school would bring down his own popularity. At least then he wouldn’t have to deal with the practically hundred notes a day, some complimenting his hair, his eyes, his body- ugh! Yes, he knew he was gorgeous and he knew girls dug him big time, but that didn’t mean he wanted to receive any girl’s underwear in his locker practically every day. And Merlin did pose a challenge. Well she may also swoon and accept his proposal within moments of his asking, but he didn’t think it would be that easy this time. 

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

Cheers went up around the table, and Arthur smiled. Time to put his plan into action. 

****

Arthur found Merlin in the library. She was bent over a book, a stack of precariously placed books next to her. Arthur studied her from a distance. She looked different- looks-wise, she was way below average. She had huge clunky glasses covering up half her face and stringy black hair, tied haphazardly. She wore clothes which would have been more suited in the seventies- a faded flowery shirt buttoned up to her neck, and a brown tweed skirt that came up to below her knees. There was not an inch of skin showing- not an inch. She looked like a grandmother. Arthur shook his head and sighed and looked up thinking all the while, _why am I doing this?_ He took a deep breath and strode forward. Here’s to nothing, he said to himself.

He stood in front of her, but she didn’t even look up. He stood there for two- three minutes, tapping his foot, but she still didn’t look up. Getting a little frustrated now, he cleared his throat loudly. Merlin jumped, her hand flying out and hitting the stack of books next to her, which went down in a spectacular crash. Dust rose up in the air, and both Merlin and Arthur started coughing. _Well_ , Arthur thought to himself as he hacked his lungs out, _not an auspicious beginning at all_. 

Still coughing, Merlin had bent down to pick up the book she had displaced, and Arthur too bent down to help her, out of courtesy. Within a few minutes, the books were all in the table, and they both had managed to get their coughs under control. 

“Um. Hi?” Arthur said then, trying for nonchalant. 

Merlin just looked at him, and whatever part of her face he could see was unmoved.

“Um, I’m Arthur Pendragon,” Arthur held out his hand and waited. Slowly Merlin leaned forward and shook it. Her grip was firm, to Arthur’s surprise and she didn’t look like she was swooning. A little flustered now, he continued, “I go to this school too. I am the captain of our football team and- ““I know who you are,” Merlin interrupted. “You- do?” Arthur said haltingly, feeling a little out-of-sorts by the complete lack of reaction his name had on her. Usually, whenever Arthur held out a hand for introduction, girls either swooned, or smiled seductively, or flipped their hair coquettishly and made cow eyes at him. All he had to do to win a girl over was toss his hair to one side, or smile slowly, or just simply look a girl up a down. 

Arthur tried the hair flip thing once, seeing if that would generate any reaction. Merlin looked at him, unmoved again and said, “Yes, you’re the dean’s son. You’re in my English Lit class.” 

“I am?” Arthur was confused, never having seen her before in any of his classes.

“Yes. You probably don’t know that, seeing as you spend most of that class either sleeping or ogling Professor Mithian,” Merlin said, sotto-voce. 

Arthur blinked at that. He didn’t know what to do in this situation- he never had to do any work to make a girl like him and being insulted by a girl was a first for him. Shaking his head to dispel his uneasiness, he put on his most charming face and said in his best voice, “Um well, that may be very well true. So, I was thinking, you wanna grab a cup of coffee or something after school?”

Merlin sat back at that. Arthur could tell she was surprised because he could see the tips of her eyebrows touching her hairline. “You? Want to have coffee with me?” she asked incredulously. 

“Well yeah, why not! You and I have never hung out before have we? So, let’s try it out yea?” Arthur said in his most friendly voice.

Merlin stared at him for a few minutes. She seemed to be waiting to see if he would burst out laughing, or say “You fell for that?? Really?” When Arthur did none of that, and just seemed to look at her sincerely and a little hopefully, Merlin replied, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Arthur said relieved.

“Okay. But there’s one condition.”

Arthur raised his eye-brows, a little surprised but not that much. He had been expecting this- usually girls wanted him to take them to the school dance, or something like that- mainly to be seen with him, so he looked at her expectantly. 

“You cannot meet my mother. And you cannot date me.”

“Date?” Arthur blustered out. “Who said anything about that?” Privately, he thought even a coffee with her would be a chore, let alone dating her, but since he wanted a challenge, he would endure a little. 

She seemed to ignore his question. “Well, that’s my condition. Do you accept it?” 

Arthur looked at her. She looked back at him calmly. Wondering why in the hell he was even going to do it, he said, “Yes. Okay. No meeting your mother and dating. Deal. Now, can we go get that coffee?”

Merlin smiled a little at that. Arthur was again a little surprised by the way even that tiny smile changed her entire face. For a moment, she looked- _beautiful_. 

Shaking his head again, he held out his hand once again, and this time, Merlin held it on a little more firmly.


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur led Merlin to the café around the corner. He was feeling highly uncomfortable, because everyone who passed them by had been staring at first him, then had looked at Merlin and then back again at Arthur in a weird enough manner that it was driving him nuts. He started walking faster when he heard Merlin chuckle.

“What?” he asked her, bewildered.

“You. You’ve never been this uncomfortable in your entire life before, have you?” she asked him, with a sideways smile.

“What? Me, uncomfortable? Nah, I’m just chilling man, not at all uncomfortable,” Arthur said brightly, trying to ignore the way people were practically boring holes in their faces.

“No you most certainly are. You may be used to all the staring, but generally it has always been in adoration yeah?” she said to him wisely. 

Arthur shifted uneasily. Well, that was true. 

“It’s okay you know,” she said gently. “In a way, this gives you the courage to do whatever you want.”

“How? Doesn’t it make you feel as if you are on some sort of display?”

“Yes, it used to. But since I realized that no matter what I do, I am going to get stared at, since then I have kind-of let things go”, she said softly.

Arthur turned his head to look at her, as they continued walking. He waited for her to add something else, but she just bit her lip, and fiddled with her glasses.   
“Well, that’s a strange way to look at things,” he said with a quiet laugh.

“Yeah, but I’m a strange one myself aren’t I?” she asked him, looking right at him. Arthur stared back at her, and realized that behind those huge clunky glasses were sharp, intelligent eyes and they seemed too wise.

A minute later, Arthur cleared his throat, and looked away from her. She really was a strange one.

Smiling a little, Arthur led her inside the café, and soon they both had mugs of coffee warming their hands as they sat in a corner. It seemed that the Merlin outside had been unusually chatty because in here, she had clammed up so hard, that despite Arthur’s many efforts to start a conversation, she just stared in her coffee mug and quietly drank it. Arthur was aware that most of the people here too had been staring at her since she had walked in, and so by default had been staring at him too, but it became easier to tune it out if he just focused on Merlin.

After sitting in silence for like half an hour, Arthur finally said, “So, it seems like you really don’t like crowded places. Is that why you are always holed up in the library?”

Merlin shot him a foul look at that, and then sighed. She put her cup down, and said “Look, I don’t know what you had been trying to achieve with all this, but is really is time for me to go home now. I hope I helped you in whatever dare your friends had put you up to, and I hope you win it, but seriously this has gone on long enough, so I’ll just be on my way now.” She got up, put some money on the table, and left the café.

Arthur had been stunned into silence by whatever she had said. She thought he had been dared to talk to her and have a coffee with her. He stared at the change lying on the table- the exact amount for the coffee had been placed there neatly. He looked around, and saw people slowly go back to their businesses now that the odd girl was no longer there. Arthur sat back in his chair and sighed. This had been a surreal experience. What girl left the great Arthur Pendragon behind? What girl didn’t try to use him for his admittedly huge trust fund? What girl simply endured people staring and gossiping about her, in front of her and also behind her back? What sort of girl was so fed up of that staring that she no longer cared what people thought of her? 

An image of the tiny smile she had given him flashed before his eyes. She had looked transformed in that second. To his surprise, Arthur found himself wanting to see more of that smile, wanted to see how she looked when she was not so stone-faced, wanted to see her eyes without the barrier of that stupid glasses, wanted to talk to her some more, because for the first time in a long time, Arthur felt that someone had been totally honest with him. Usually people told him what they thought he wanted to hear. Granted the compliments were all great for his ego, but every once in a while he would like someone to just be upfront with him and not do things that they thought would please him. His friends were all great, and they didn’t let his ego get the better of him, but he wanted something new. Something fresh, someone new, and to his astonishment, it seemed that Merlin indeed could be that person. He could be friends with her- she was bold, and outspoken- well outspoken to the people she did speak to- but he had a feeling she wouldn’t let him get away with his shit either.

A slow smile spread over his face at that. Yes, Merlin Emrys was the right girl for this. He would have a real challenge with her, and that pleased him. 

***

“She said what?” Gwaine asked baffled, closing the refrigerator with a bang.

Arthur winced at the noise, and looked up to see if his father would come down to shout at him to keep it down. The gang was all hanging out at his place tonight, and they had plans to watch some horror flick and boo at the scary parts. Arthur sighed to himself as he took out the popcorn from the microwave. He shouldn’t have told Gwaine about Merlin. He would be weird about it all and that would make Arthur feel strange about his decision.

“She said that I cannot date her. And that I can’t meet her mother too.”

“And yet you are gonna go with the initial plan that you had?”

“Yep.” Arthur nodded, pouring the corn in bowls.

“But- but weren’t you sulking because you couldn’t find a girl to date?” Gwaine asked, confusedly scratching his head.

“Well, yeah. But she is, I don’t know, somehow different. I think we can end up being great friends!” Arthur said earnestly.

Gwaine still looked confused as they carried the soda and popcorn into the movie room, where the rest had already spread out comfortably on the couch and floor. Making room for themselves, they both too settled in, and the movie was started.

Halfway into the movie, Gwaine leaned over and whispered,” So that means you aren’t gonna try and get into her pants?”

Arthur choked on the soda he had been drinking, and coughed loudly. “NO, jeez! I am not attracted to her man. I just feel that she is different than any other girl I’ve ever met, and so I’d like to get to know her. She’s pretty smart, so maybe that can come in handy during exams,” he said laughingly. 

Gwaine too laughed at that a little, and then stopped and stared at him searchingly.

“What?” Arthur asked, bemused.

“Nothing. Just wondering how someone managed to impress the great Arthur PenD in just one meeting. It’s a little strange, that’s all. What is also strange is that you don't want to sleep with her. Just friends. Strange again.” With that mysterious monologue, Gwaine turned back to the screen and boo'd accordingly at the witch that had popped out of nowhere on the screen. 

Arthur blinked at that. Huh. Strange indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur stood outside the library, hesitating. It was all well and good that he had decided to go and be friends with Merlin. But what if she didn’t want to be friends with him? He was the quintessential kind of guy- a typical jock- that girls like her detest, and she already thought that he had been dared to approach her and take her out for coffee. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair nervously, and let it flop back onto his forehead. He even looked like a jock. Blonde hair falling over his forehead, blue eyes, arrogant smile…that was all so not useful in this situation. Anyone else and he’d just have to look at them and they’d be falling all over themselves to please him. But Merlin- Merlin was different. 

Taking a deep breath, he was about to step into the library when a shout of his name from behind him stopped him in his tracks. Turning around, he almost groaned out loud when he saw who had called him.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Arthur mumbled, banging his head on the wall. He straightened when the man approached, beaming at him as usual.

“Ah! My favourite student!” Olaf bellowed, grinning a mad grin.

“Hello professor. How are you?” Arthur asked politely, trying to edge away from him subtly. 

Clamping down a huge hand on Arthur’s shoulder, Olaf boomed, “Fine, just fine my dear boy. I just wanted you to meet my daughter. Viv, come here. She just got transferred here!” 

Kill me now, Arthur prayed silently under his breath, trying unsuccessfully to get the history professor’s hand off his shoulder. Olaf was practically mad; at least he was according to Arthur. He always accosted him, catching him unawares and booming in his face about his daughter Vivian, who Arthur had never seen before, and had hoped to never see either. But here he was, getting manhandled by the strangest professor at Camelot High, who always got a certain gleam in his eyes when he talked about war, and treaties and peace talks. Arthur shuddered internally, pasting a polite smile on his face when Olaf again turned towards him.

“Arthur, here. This is my offspring. Offspring, Arthur Pendragon- the most eligible boy in all of Camelot!” Olaf roared with laughter at that, while Arthur just stared at him in horrified fascination. The slip of a girl standing in front of him was actually pretty. She didn’t look like she was Olaf’s offspring. But then she opened her mouth, and Arthur winced at the sheer volume, and shrillness of her voice. Yeah, now there was no doubt that she was his kid. 

Smiling politely again, Arthur extricated himself with some difficulty from the professor’s surprisingly sweaty grip. “Hey, it was nice meeting you, offspring. Will talk to you later sir, bye-bye!” saying all that in a rush, he made his escape, and rushed to the library. Closing the door behind him, he let out a relieved sigh. He could still see the father and daughter outside, but fortunately for his ear buds, he couldn’t hear them.

Taking a deep breath, he turned around to go find Merlin.

He found her sitting at the same place he had seen her last time. It was actually a pretty cool spot. You could see right out the window the sprawling grounds of Cam High, with the football field visible even from where Arthur was standing. But it was also secluded, in the sense, there was only one table near it but that was almost perpetually dark so no one ever sat there. 

Merlin was again bent over the books, and it looked like she was fully absorbed in her readings once again. Arthur stood there for a moment, just observing her, and cataloguing the differences from last time. her hair, for a change was not spilling out all messy and uncontrolled but was tied up in a almost-neat plait, but her bangs still fell over her eyes, covering them from view. She was wearing her old-buttoned up blouse again, but at least the skirt was a little shorter (still just below-knee though… damn, this girl seriously didn’t want to show any skin, he thought to himself) and was not tweed. 

He cleared his throat softly and this time she immediately looked up. He gave her a little wave, and said unnecessarily,”Hi! It’s me again!”

She looked bemused, as if not sure what to do with the fact that Arthur was back. “Hi?” she said hesitantly. 

That was just the opening he needed. Grinning his famous grin, Arthur flipped his hair to one side and pulled a chair for himself. He plopped down on it, straddling it, and rested his hands on the back of the chair. She continued looking at him confusedly, and reached up a hand to push her glasses up her nose.

“So,” Arthur beamed. “Whatcha doing?” 

“I- I’m reading?”

“Yea I could see that. Whatcha readin?”

Merlin titled her head to look at him, as if looking at him from a different angle would suddenly make his behavior seem normal to her. Arthur continued giving her his best grin.

“Ohkay, look. Enough with this already! I am not going to fall for that again, and I don’t want to waste my time my striking up conversations with you. So if you would please excuse me, I have a paper to write.” Merlin said in frazzled manner.

Okay here goes nothing, Arthur thought to himself silently. “Merlin, Merlin, listen to me. This is all no drama, no dare, nothing okay? It is all me, honestly. I actually like you, and want to be your friend. Will you accept that?”

Merlin stared at him, flabbergasted. “Are you serious?” she whispered softly. 

“Cross my heart, “Arthur said solemnly.

“It’s just that, in my entire schooling here, no one has ever approached me to be their friend. I mean, at first I thought that maybe it was because mama always said that people take time before liking someone, but time passed, and weeks turned into years and I was still friendless. And not only that, but people made fun of me, and called me names and stuff. And now you-“she broke off suddenly, as if she realized how much she had revealed. 

Arthur was struck speechless, by the depth of emotion he could feel in her voice. Shit, he remembered that he was one of the kids that made fun of her- calling her names and imitating her behind her back. He felt terrible about that now.

“Listen Merlin,” he said softly. “I am sorry about all that you have been through, and I apologize for my behavior too. But you can’t let that hold you back for the rest of your life. Take a chance with people; let them see how amazing you are. Let them get to know the wonderful, smart person that you have hiding under all that all these years all along.”

Merlin looks as if she was about to cry, but she turned her head so Arthur couldn’t even see her glasses, let alone her eyes. She took a deep breath, as if to fortify herself, and then turned and looked at him and said firmly, “No. I’m sorry but no, I can’t do that. I don’t want to do that. I’m fine just the way I am. If people want to see and get to know the person I am it will have to be with all this that I am now. I’m happy with my life Arthur, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.” She stopped at that, and continued earnestly. “You cannot be a part of my life, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking the other day, going to have a coffee with you of all people, but I can’t do it. I cannot be your friend Arthur.”

With that, she stood up and started pushing all her books in her bag haphazardly, and almost ran out of the library without even looking at him once.

Well, shit. This was not what he had expected to happen. 

Shit.


End file.
